Hello everyone. I'm working on my masters thesis on Theravada Buddhist attitudes towards wildlife in Thailand, and I find myself in need of the Pali word Kamma (as in Karma) written in Pali script. I've searched and searched for it, and I just can't seem to find it anywhere. I was hoping that some of you people knowledgeable in writing Pali could help me out. I would really appreciate it! I don't know if you can post Pali script on here. If not I can put my email address up. Thanks so much for your help!

There is no script that is definitively associated with or exclusively Pali. Pali is not the name of a script but a language.The canon was preserved in pali in (probably) the dominant script used within a particular culture at the time.

Hi Ben. Thanks for your help and for being so speedy! I guess I thought that there was a borrowed script that was commonly used to write Pali--such as Sanskrit. From what you're saying, however, that doesn't seem to be the case. Would it then be common practice to simply use a Latin transcription? Thanks again, Angela.

If you have asked me of the origination of unease, then I shall explain it to you in accordance with my understanding: Whatever various forms of unease there are in the world, They originate founded in encumbering accumulation. (Pārāyanavagga)

Exalted in mind, just open and clearly aware, the recluse trained in the ways of the sages:One who is such, calmed and ever mindful, He has no sorrows! -- Udana IV, 7

As mentioned above, there are different ways in which "kamma" can be spelled using Thai characters. In normal written Thai it would be กรรม which comes from Sanskrit "karma", similar to ธรรม = "dharma" (which can sometimes be spelled ธรรมะ as well, and then pronounced with the -a at the end which is normally dropped). The phonetic spelling กัมมะ is only used in the original Pali texts or chanting books.See http://society.worldtipitaka.org/mds/co ... ew/188/49/

Thanks, Gavesako. That really clarifies things. I was trying to figure out how กรรม spelled "kamma" or "karma" without a ะ , but if they pronounce it without an a sound at the end, it makes a lot more sense.

A very large can of worms is in store for anyone trying to transliterate Thai to Roman script (as there is no unified system), whether Pali, or any other language be the desired one...although Thai has many Pali words in their own vocabulary, it depends on where (which part of the country) one is talking about (as well as no equivalent sound to certain letters in other languages, thus rendering transliteration even more difficult)...Thais from the South have great difficulty (if not no) understanding (of) their counterparts from the North, Issan, etc.(and vice versa) even using everyday lingo...

I'm not trying to dampen anyone's interest in their pursuit in this endeavor, just be prepared to know that, while some may get what one is trying to convey, a majority will be left scratching their heads...

This isn't chiseled in stone, but comes with more than thirty years residing in the country...

Hi Appichato. Thanks for the warning. I grew up in Thailand, so I'm fairly familiar with Thai and its transliteration. You are very correct in saying that transliterating Thai into English is difficult, and indeed there is no unified system. In my thesis I am attempting to follow the Royal Thai General System of transliteration, as far as possible. Fortunately the majority of my study has nothing to do with Thai or Pali language for that matter. Right now I'm simply setting the scene for attitudes toward wildlife in Thailand by discussing Theravada Buddhism, and its origins.

But I think I see your point, that there is no "holy" language, at least certainly no "holy" script. Writing Pali in Thai script is no more "holy" than writing it in Roman letters.

About a week ago I was listening to the radio (Radio National here in Australia) and they were playing a program on Latin and the christian idea of sacredness being imbued in certain languages. An early version of the bible was written in Latin, Greek and Aramaic (I think). Scholars concluded that the language becomes sacred when a sacred text is translated into it so as that the text becomes understandable to the people using that language. But how long did it take for christians to realize that? Its still only in recent memory that the Catholic mass was still being officiated in Latin.kind regards

Ben

Learn this from the waters:in mountain clefts and chasms,loud gush the streamlets,but great rivers flow silently.